Lost Duties
by MystikD109
Summary: AU. Naruto is on the run from the Akatsuki, which wants him dead. He tries to drop off the face of the Earth like he did before, but will it be as successful? And what secrets does Naruto's past hide?
1. Always Running

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO; and I don't want to at this point.

Takes place in the more or less modern times (Europe). Ninjas do still exist.

"blah" – speech  
'_blah'_ – thoughts

* * *

Chapter One: Always Running

They were always there, even if they couldn't see them… the Akatsuki. A dreaded name that Naruto came to despise over the years.

Although it was different now, they weren't after him because of the Kyuubi. No, Kyuubi and Naruto had merged several years ago.

At that point Naruto couldn't stay in Konoha any longer because of a couple of physical changes: his eyes had taken the shape of Kyuubi's and turned purple, his fangs were now long all the time and his normally blonde hair was now more reddish. The villagers seemed to hate him even more, if that was even possible.

Naruto had taken to wearing a facemask, but everyone in the village still knew who he was. He still keeps it on now that he is out of the village, since ninjas are supposed to be more in the background now-a-days. And having fangs doesn't necessarily strike people as normal.

Naruto had grown up a lot, from the hyperactive, loud-mouthed brat he used to be. He became quite, reserved and strategic, but never lost his naturally warm heart.

His apparel also changed quite a bit; almost all his clothes were black now, he now wore a black jacket that had several scroll-pockets and many inside pocket and hidden compartments, black shirt underneath, black pants with kunai and shuriken holsters built-in, black boots and his bandana was a dark shade of blue. His black apparel would have been a heavy contract to his blond hair, but at the moment he had it dyed dark brown.

Snapping back to reality, Naruto suddenly realized they were watching him again…

'_Damn it_! _Time to move again,_' thought Naruto as he quickly got up and jumped unto a nearby roof, while leaving three Kage Bunshin to 'confuse' the enemy. '_Yeah right as if they can be confused… I'd have more luck getting a rabbit to eat meat,' _thought Naruto.

He made his way along the roofs randomly or at least that's how it would look to a normal person.

Over the years Naruto had perfected his 'Random Walk' as he called it. He would jump around randomly on the roofs and/or in the alleys, making it look like he wasn't headed in any particular direction at all. Sometimes it even looked like he was going around in circles; he would occasionally mix in a Kage Bunshin into this to even further confuse any pursuers. '_I should really consider myself lucky, that my pursuers haven't been able to figure out the pattern,_' thought Naruto.

He eventually made his way over to an apartment building, looked around and decided to sit and watch. Making sure no one could feel his presence he sat there unmoving an hour before he finally felt it safe to go inside. It was a small old apartment building with a single corridor on each of the five floors. Two locked doors on the street level each requiring a different key, stood between him and his temporary home.

Naruto noted, absentmindedly, that locks he had a key to were a lot easier to deal with than ones he didn't. As soon as the thought went through his head he resisted the urge to slam his head into a wall. '_Yes, thank you, Captain Obvious'_ he could easily imagine one of his former teammates saying.

The blond made his way to the third floor, end of the corridor, room 305. Apartment building was sort of a misnomer in Naruto's case since he had a studio, but it was better this way. You say 'apartment' and people assume, they assume incorrectly, which is exactly what you want. The inside the room was mostly bare: a large bag of snacks and instant ramen was sitting on the kitchen table; a single bed with a thick, white, metal frame was on the opposite side of the room; next to the bed was a small pile of black shirts, underwear, and socks; and there was a TV perpendicularly across from the bed.

"I need to get out of here," muttered the blond. "But first I have to eat; who knows the next time I'll be able to."

Naruto tossed the instant ramen in the microwave and ripped through all of the snacks while it was cooking. After dinner, at least that's what it should be called considering time of day, he reached into the closet pulling out a small handbag and stuffed his pile of clothes into it. The blond looked around the room to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Wiping off fingerprints was useless in his situation. The people following him could find out he was here regardless of fingerprints, and as far anyone outside of Konoha was concerned: he didn't exist.

The blond walked out the door, locked it, and slipped his key under the manager's door; he'd paid ahead, so it was fine. He walked to the end of corridor on the fifth floor, lifted up the loose carpet right under the window, pulled out a small key that he quickly slipped into his pocket, and left. Once out on the street, he blended in with the crowd and seemingly disappeared; to most people that is.

Train station storage is like a gift from the gods. It is so much easier, not to mention safer, to carry around a small key than all of your belongings.

Naruto was also to the train station when he heard a faint whistling sound, '_Shit! God damn it! Can my luck be any worse?'_ cursed Naruto as he dodged the shuriken attack.

The blond quickly found himself blocking and dodging projectiles left and right. This was strange, the pair he usually had to deal with preferred head-on attacks. However, the blond also didn't want to have to face Itachi and Kisame head-on, so as soon as he saw an opportunity he ran for it. He didn't particularly care where he ended up as long as he lost his pursuers.

Naruto knew that he was being followed closely and tried his best to throw of his pursuer, most likely being Itachi; with Kisame going ahead to try and intercept him. The shark-man was originally from this country, so he knew the city and the terrain. He would jump in and out of alleys, created Kage Bunshins and sometimes even go through stores. But Itachi was never deceived and continued to follow him.

At one point Itachi was close enough to throw half a dozen shuriken at Naruto, most missed but one slipped through Naruto's guard and clipped his left thigh. '_Shit, immobilizing me aren't you, you fucking bastard?'_

Naruto then saw the entrance to the subway directly to his left and made straight for it. Upon reaching the tracks he saw that the train was just getting ready to leave and not wasting any time Naruto jumped up on its roof. '_Itachi's not close enough to get on this train too, but still I can't allow myself to relax.'_

Naruto decided to stay in his position for two more stations. When he got off, he found that this station was a junction of two branches of the subway system. He instantly got on a train from the other branch and rode on it for several more minutes. When he got off, he suddenly felt a horrible feeling, the same feeling he gets when he catches the Akatsuki watching him.

It seemed to be coming from inside the tunnel, '_one of them must be on the next train…'_ As soon as he thought that, Naruto saw the light quickly approaching him. The blond hid behind a post hoping that they would not see or sense him. But it was in vain, as the train was slowing down Naruto looked over to see who would get out and was almost blinded by a terrible explosion. He saw a small figure jump out of the remainder of the car and make its way quickly through the smoke, '_Sakura?'_ Naruto realized in confusion. '_But what is she doing here?'_

Kisame walked out of the explosion, Samehada on his shoulder, and a frown on his face; his left arm seemed to be hanging limply. This was a good development, with the shark-man injured and Itachi not being a medic-nin the Akatsuki pair would retreat.

However, Sakura wasn't looking to good herself. It looked like her left leg had taken a direct hit, or shave in this case, from the Samehada. Naruto couldn't leave her to die, but this was his only chance to escape. From the way the pink-haired girl stumbled, she wouldn't be able to make a run for it. The blond gritted his teeth.

Sakura was in a completely different world of pain than she had even been in, and she was doing her best not to slip into unconsciousness. The adrenaline rush of realizing that Kisame had, not only, survived her punch, but hadn't been sufficiently incapacitated and was now headed straight towards her was more than enough to keep her conscious.

'_Shit!'_ cursed the young woman. '_I can't run, I definitely can't defend against that sword, and Sasuke is most likely too busy with Itachi to help.'_

Reality was harsh feeling, knowing the she was probably going to die was enough to make her eyes widen and pulse skyrocket. She knew that in her line of work death was always around the corner – she understood that – but there was a difference between knowing it and staring it in the face. Sakura's mentor had told her that if she gave up in the middle of battle she may very well be driving a nail into her teammate's coffin.

'_I can't give up,'_ she thought. '_I have to make sure – no matter what – that Naruto is safe… or at least safely away. He's risked his life too many times to save mine. I will return the favor!'_

The shark-man suddenly stopped his advance toward the young woman and placed himself in a much more defensive stance, but before Sakura could make head or tails of why, someone was carrying her out of the subway in his arms.

"Naruto?" she asked in shock. The girl had known that he was in the city; this battle they were having only solidified that knowledge, but she had never expected to actually meet him.

"Yeah," he said neutrally as his eyes scanned the surroundings. Suddenly a clone appeared running right next to them that Sakura was handed off to.

"Hey! Wait!" she yelled.

"We don't have time to chat," replied Naruto. "You are in no condition to fight. My clone will take you to where you are staying; please tell him how to get there. And please understand that this is for the best."

With that the clone ran to the side and did not stop until it was safe to ask for directions.

Naruto found himself being chased onto a bridge going over a large river. He quickly made his way up to the top of the bridge and found Itachi facing him. Naruto knew he could not fight against both, not right now, not in his current condition. So he decided to fight a retreating battle, in which he was constantly looking for an opportunity to escape.

Itachi starts of the battle by firing of a Housenka, which Naruto countered with Shuriken Kage Bunshin. Kisame tried to have a sword fight with Naruto, but found that Naruto made a Kage Bunshin pop up behind Kisame. Kisame was momentarily distracted and this allowed Naruto to kick him in the gut and push him back. Itachi, meanwhile, had reached inside his cloak and pulled out two sub-machine guns and fired them at Naruto. '_Shit! The Akatsuki have gotten THIS low!'_ growled Naruto. _'I hate having to dodge or parry bullets.'_ Naruto managed to block most of the bullets with his kunai and dodged the rest.

Noticing the somewhat shocked expression on his opponent's faces, he decided that this would be the best time to make a run for it. As soon as he jumped backwards of the top of the bridge, he was caught by a strong pair of hands. The blond found that whoever it was was doing the right thing by retreating. A couple miles away, Naruto was finally let go and he spun around to face his would be rescued; the blond gasped before scowling. In front of him stood Sasuke in his Curse Seal form, though he was retracting it now, Naruto finally understood why the Akatsuki pair had let him go.

* * *

A/N: This is actually a dream I had at some point.  
I'm re-vamping this from what it was before. (Hence, the deletion of the previous.) Reason for this was mainly because the narrative that I was using for previous version really didn't suit this story. The one I'm using now, I think, fits a lot better. Not to mention that I really like it, so I'm going to experiment with it in this story.


	2. Leaving

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO.

Takes place in the more or less modern times (Europe). Ninjas do still exist.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are 25 years old.

"blah" – speech  
'_blah_' – thoughts

General note: If I don't reveal something and/or skim over it that, most likely, means that I'll talk about later.

Q: How do they have guns?  
A: Please refer to the right below the disclaimer where it says "more or less modern times." Modern meaning I'm including the invention of firearms... I'm sorry for the sarcasm, but the answer was right there. This chapter goes into a lot more background and explanations.

* * *

Chapter 2: Leaving

The world had changed much since the days when the Hidden Villages were first created. It is only to be expected that everything changes with the years, hundreds of years in this situation. Some villages died and others arose, but none survived the test of time and all the original villages crumbled sooner or later to be replaced by others. Soon though, the countries around the Hidden Villages grew to be more and more politically based and the Hidden Villages slipped into the background, sort of like as a secret weapon that could be unleashed and any point: an object of power.

All the countries now label themselves as 'republics' and have presidents and what not, all of whom are chosen by the civilian population. However since civilians can't be trusted to lead the military during times of war, the Kage of the countries Hidden Village would become a temporary dictator of the entire country during times of war.

The modern Hidden Villages are **really **hidden. A normal person would not be able to even find them. They are absolutely top secret; only the highest government officials know the exact location. They are like secret underground societies, used mostly for war and other projects that the politicians refer to as 'intelligence.' Also, even though the villages are within their respected countries they still have their own laws and regulations, especially when it comes to killing; in this way they are completely independent of from their host country.

Future shinobi are recruited at a young age and stay with the village until death (missing-nin cases not included). Loyalty to village and country are the most important things taught in the ninja academy. That is why missing-nins are almost never taken back into the village, especially criminal missing-nin. Even shinobi that go missing-in-action are now considered missing-nin until proven otherwise.

The recruits actually only make up about half of the shinobi force, the other half are born into the village and start their ninja training even earlier. About half of the 'natural ninja,' as some of the arrogant ones call themselves, have advanced bloodlines, while the rest don't. Advanced blood has diminished over the last century, only the most powerful and most concealed ones have remained. There is a saying going around, "if you can't hide your blood you don't belong," which basically means that if the person with advanced blood can't pass for a normal person then he's useless. A good example are the Hyuga, because of their eyes they cannot pass for regular people. This limits the amount of jobs that they can do, so they are simply not allowed outside of the village unless there are special circumstances involved; such as war or a high-level espionage mission.

However not all shinobi are used for the 'intelligence,' there is another branch of shinobi which are like the Federal Police. While each city has its own police force, these ninja are specially trained to deal with the more dangerous criminals. This force is called "The Peacekeepers" (often abbreviated to "PK") and is as prestigious a title as the ANBU. The Peacekeepers' training deals a lot more with countering of civilian weaponry and tactics, as well as quite a bit of detective training to catch the wily criminals. Since ninja are in short supply and cannot possible cover the entire country, the Peacekeepers recruit civilian police officers to work under them.

Even though the world is blossoming with technology, the ninja are honorable to the old ways and do not use guns or any other high-tech weapons; high-tech gadgets are fine though. At least the loyal shinobi don't, nothing good can be said about the missing-nins, those people will stoop to ultra low levels just to achieve their selfish desires.

Most are like that, but not all. The Akatsuki has been pretty honorable in that sense up until now. Naruto was a missing-nin before and he didn't dishonor himself. Then again, he wasn't a criminal either, just left his village to achieve a sort of personal peace away from the cold stares and the never-ending insults.

The ninja now do not use forehead protectors to identify themselves as shinobi, but rather get tattoos of their village symbol on their arm. Their passports also contain a special symbol only visible under black light. The general public is a bit wary of the ninja, since they don't know very much about them except that in a war those are the soldiers that will go to fight. The villages also consider it better if no one knows whether or not a person is a ninja or not, security and secrecy have been raised to new level in the past couple of decades. Identifying people by their fingerprints is a common thing done at airports and other long distance travel facilities. Shinobis do learn how to manipulate their fingerprints using chakra and get by security in almost any situation without fighting. Though, if you are on a high enough level, your records are expunged and you simply don't exist, or a new identity is drawn for you every time you need to leave the country.

))))) Rooftop in Downtown (((((

Sasuke and Naruto were hiding in the shadows overlooking London's downtown. The raven-haired young man was patiently waiting for his blond teammate to start with the chain of questions. They, Sasuke and Sakura, had been in the Mist-Village-protected Water Country for two weeks now. While they had caught brief glimpses of Naruto, they could never corner him in a position such that they could talk.

His thoughts then drifted to the details. It was Naruto specifically that the Akatsuki were hunting. '_Naruto had merely said that he refused their offer and that they have been chasing him ever since, he's definitely hiding something thought. But he's a stubborn one, if Sakura and I hadn't been able to convince him to take us along, then there's no way he'll tell us the truth unless he wants to.'_

As if on cue, Naruto had finished studying their surroundings and turned to Sasuke with a serious face. "What the hell are you two doing here?" demanded Naruto.

"Saving your ass apparently."

"Tsk," the blond frowned, "and what makes you think that the Akatsuki hasn't been tailing you to get to me?"

"I'm better than you when it comes to espionage," the Uchiha stated.

Naruto sighed, "I can handle them on my own."

At this Sasuke openly glared and even raised his voice a little. "Well apparently not! Since if we hadn't been there they would have overtaken you and you would be lucky to be alive right now."

"Listen! I knew that they were here before they attacked me," rebutted the blond. "I'm leaving tonight; just need to get my stuff and get on a plane."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "After all the chaos that was raised tonight, you want to _fly_ out of here?"

"Look if I take the last plane out of here, then there is no way Itachi and Kisame can follow until the next morning," explained Naruto. "And that would give me at least a six hour window to hide."

"Then we are going with you," stated the Uchiha.

Naruto looked at him as if he was crazy. "No! No way! Two reasons, one: you wouldn't get past security and might even get us caught. Two: have you _seen_ the condition Sakura is in? You need to get her back to Konoha for medical attention."

Any anger the Uchiha may have had evaporated and was replaced by worry, "Wait, what do you mean?"

"She was injured in her fight against Kisame in that subway car," explained Naruto. "My clone took her back to where you two were staying."

"She's a medic-nin, Naruto, a very good one at that," replied Sasuke as he motioned for Naruto to follow him to their hotel.

"Her entire leg was shaved by the Samehada," replied the blond. "Don't even try to argue with me, Sasuke, you and I both know that she needs to go back to Konoha."

Sasuke grumbled, but had to acknowledge that the blond was right. Then an idea struck him, "You come with us," he demanded.

"Not a chance in hell," replied Naruto calmly. "I can't go back to Konoha when the Akatsuki are on my tail like this. I refuse to endanger the village to save my own hide."

"That's not true and you know it," replied Sasuke. "Konoha can protect you a lot better than a random apartment building in enemy territory."

Naruto sighed and growled lot in the same breath, "We are NOT having this conversation again. You know how it ends because it lasted several hours when I was leaving Konoha."

"You know, you were a lot more agreeable before you fell off the face of the Earth for three years," commented Sasuke.

"Well, I'm sorry for growing up and maturing. Oh, and don't try to pull time with stupid questions like these; it's not like I can't see through them."

"At least come with us to the border," offered Sasuke. "I could use your help with Sakura."

The blond sighed; he knew – as did the Uchiha – that there was no simple 'to the border.' Excluding the fact that the border was in the middle of a body of water, if he were to cross into France then it would be hell to try and leave again.

"Numb her leg and wrap it up as tight as you can," instructed the blond. "Do whatever to keep her from bleeding at the station. First thing in the morning, take the express train across the border. I trust you didn't skip the lecture on smuggling injured comrades across borders."

Naruto made to leave, but Sasuke firmly held him by the arm. "You can't follow me, Sasuke. Not while you are escorting Sakura back home."

"Give me a rendezvous point," was the demand.

"I'm going into hiding," was the calm reply. "Like I did all those years ago when I was a missing-nin; there is no rendezvous point when you do not want to be found."

The blond made to leave again, but Sasuke held firm. "Tell me where."

The two glared at each other for a while; cold frustrated blue meeting unreadable, yet worried, black. Finally the blond blinked and turned his head to the side. He reached into his pouch and withdrew a small folder piece of paper, which he slipped into the Uchiha's pouch before teleporting away.

Sasuke pulled out the piece of paper as he continued on his way.

_HEMUSOY_

_GOHCECUL_

_INCMUH_

Sasuke blinked, '_An anagram? Well, it's better than nothing.'_

By the time the raven-haired young man made it to his and Sakura's hotel room, Naruto's clone was long gone, Sakura's leg and other minor injuries had been bandaged, and the woman in question was sleeping soundly on the bed. Sasuke sighed and hung his head as he surveyed the mess in the bathroom. Naruto was right, they did not have enough medical supplies to last even for a half a week.

"'What happens when the medic is injured?'" Sasuke found himself whispering a question that had been asked during one ANBU training session. "'You get to a safe place and make do, waiting for the reinforcements to arrive.'" That had been the answer, but everyone in that room could tell that the man was avoiding the real answer, "depending on the enemy, you're screwed."

Sasuke knelt by the bed and grasped Sakura's hand in his own. She had grown so much from the loud and annoying fan-girl of her youth. A sannin's apprentice, brilliant medic-nin, strong fighter, a very opinionated young woman, and quite a beauty. Sasuke smiled lightly, now that he wanted to protect her she would hear nothing about it, always saying how she can handle things on her own and that she doesn't need his help; so much different from their genin days.

He had laughed at himself and wondered if he'd accidentally taken an illegal drug instead of painkillers when he first realized that he loved her. He was nineteen when he first had this thought and had more-or-less dismissed it instantly. It took close to a year and a certain event before they started dating.

At first no one worried, MIAs were common in S-Class missions. Sometimes shinobi would go weeks at a time without correspondence in order to get closer to the objective and not draw unnecessary attention. However, when weeks turned into months and it was announced that his mission was a success, rumors began surfacing that Uzumaki Naruto was actually killed-in-action. His friends and teachers never believed it. The villagers celebrated, but only until it became painfully obvious that shinobi might attack on sight claiming treason.

The turbulence and unpredictability of a shinobi's life was something all shinobi knew, but until some horrible situation happens to someone close to you this knowledge just rots in the back of your mind. For Sasuke, Naruto's disappearance was exactly such a situation. What if Naruto was dead? The fact that he didn't want to believe it and didn't want it to be true did nothing to alleviate the nagging feeling in the back of the Uchiha's mind that this was always a possibility.

Death, even the possibility thereof, of someone close tends to make people think. Think and realize the frailty of shinobi life. One such realization prompted Sasuke's confession, which Sakura had accepted. They've been going out for five years now. It's not anything romantic like teenage girls imagine, after all they are both shinobi, both go on dangerous missions that have a high chance of getting them killed, and both are rarely at home.

They want to get married, but say that there is no time. They say that it wouldn't really change anything since they have been living together for three and half years now; a little piece of paper isn't going to change their feeling about each other. The real reason, however, that they don't get married is because they want him to be there for the ceremony. No matter what he would say on the matter, they would both consider it a grave insult if they were married without Naruto there.

Sasuke sighed, he needed to get some sleep; tomorrow would be a very taxing day.

Blending in was usually the best idea. Disappearing into the crowd after getting away from Sasuke had been all too easy. Walk into the train station – be mindful of the cameras, but do not stare – retrieve duffel bag, walk out, and catch a cab to the airport. Relatively standard routine for shinobi, entirely too repetitive for Naruto; the blond could do it in his sleep.

The trip to the airport was uneventful, the cabbie wasn't too talkative, just a standard amount of curiosity.

"Catching the red-eye out, are you?"

"Yeah, business forces you to adjust."

"No shit, tell me about it."

Standard fare plus a small tip, 'thank you' exchange, and the blond walks into the terminal. The departures board tells him exactly what he wants to see and he searches out the particular airline counter to buy a ticket.

"Excuse me miss, is there any chance I could buy a ticket for the last flight to the Snow Country?" he asked in a pleasant voice.

"Yes, of course, no problem. We rarely have full planes going to the Snow Country during the winter," she replied.

Passport check, pay with credit, sign receipt, check-in baggage, proceed to the appropriate gate, and wait. Naruto has never liked to loiter around in front of the security area; unless there were special circumstances. His paperwork was in order, so he'd take his chances at security now before he lost his nerve.

'_Security seems somewhat lax,_' he noted. Then again, at the end of the night everyone wants to just finish their shift and go home. 'J_ust use a mid-level genjutsu to cover up the weapons from the people and coat them in chakra to confuse the metal detector.'_

Getting through security was a piece of cake; there was one guard that thought he could bluff and get a reaction out of Naruto, but the blond had seen it done too many times to even react.

Thankfully there was an open bar beyond security and Naruto grabbed a couple drinks before getting on the plane. Once the plane was away and quickly gaining altitude the blond relaxed and thought back to the people he left behind in the Snow Country the first time he was there.

His mentor and good friend would definitely be the first person he would visit. After that he could work on getting in touch with his underground buddies; information is a priceless resource. He would need money. It was a conclusion that Naruto had come to many, many times when he was a missing-nin, but it would always elicit a bothersome sigh from the blond.

A place to stay, a job, and a steady source of information. Those were all the things he really needed to survive in any place for an extended period of time; good cover story and nice girlfriend were luxuries. This, of course, made his mind drift to a time and a place where he had another option for what to do with his life. If it hadn't been for the Kyuubi he would have taken it.

Naruto continued to look out through the plane's window, finding a sort of peace in the darkness outside. Naruto's mind, however, went back to tonight's battle. '_If they are using guns now, then they want me dead pretty damn bad,'_ Naruto scowled. '_This also means they won't hesitate to kill my companions.'_

Naruto hadn't wanted to give those anagrams to Sasuke, he was forced to. However, why had he written them in the first place? So that if his dead body had ever been shipped back to Konoha some of his friends would be able to decipher the truth in his actions? No, if he died no one would ever find his body again. In the dark recesses of his mind, Naruto knew that he wanted a companion, but that he never had the heart to ask.

This made him wonder. He knew Sasuke would follow the clues and find him, but would he bring Sakura along? Naruto didn't have anything against the pink-haired woman, but it was dangerous; the Akatsuki was damned dangerous.

'_At least I should be able to get a breather in the Snow Country,'_ Naruto mused as he felt sleep taking him._ 'Kane will definitely have a place for me to hide.'_

Sasuke had done just as Naruto had instructed. With Sakura's insight, he managed to numb her leg for several hours. He then bandaged it and got her a pair of crutches. The act was not really an act at all, so it is no surprise that it worked without a hitch. Getting to the station was easy, buying tickets and navigating the insane amount of people was annoying, but once they were on the train Sasuke and Sakura could relax a little.

The only thing that worried Sasuke was that the closer they got to France the bloodier Sakura's bandages became. Genjutsu was the easier way to trick the guards at immigration, but did they want to do that? Would they be taken to Konoha once their identities were revealed? More than likely that would be the case, but the problem with this was that both of them were Special Jounin. This meant that there should not even be a potential compromise of their identities.

What if the enemy had spies in the station? What if one of the other passengers was an agent? Entirely possible and entirely too likely. While Sasuke didn't care about the title – and he knew Sakura didn't either – it was a title that gave special privileges. Like, the one they were taking advantage of now: to be able to travel freely as long you produced positive results for your country. Regular check-ins were still required – this was a step down from a sannin title – but this title is what allowed them to pursue Naruto without reprimand.

If there was even a chance that their identities were discovered, they would be taken off the Special Jounin list; and if it was confirmed they could never be Special Jounin ever again. Getting a mission to line up with a destination you want to go to at a moment's notice was practically impossible.

No, Sasuke decided, they would have to get in by the book.

Sasuke helped Sakura to the bathroom half an hour before they pulled into the station. The medic-nin cleaned her wound, re-numbed it, and re-bandaged it; taking the old bandages with her. The young woman mentally cursed at her low chakra reserves, she hadn't told Sasuke, but this was the second wound she received from Kisame. The first one, which happened to be in the same location, she had healed at a high cost to her chakra.

Naruto seemed to be too preoccupied, which she was glad for, to notice that she had been practically passing out from chakra exhaustion. Needless to say that spending last night trying not to die from an open wound that needed to be treated by a medic-nin and not by bandages and pulses of medical chakra – whenever she had enough – did not help her chakra reserves recover.

The train came into the station and the couple was off to immigration as quickly as they could; thankfully no baggage except carry-ons. It's Sasuke's turn at passport control. The raven-haired man gives the officer his passport and glances over to the next window where Sakura is doing the same. Officer notices this, glances at the other officer servicing the young lady, but only sees a sympathetic smile; he decides that they are couple.

Passport is passed under a UV machine and two lights go on at the same time: green and blue. The green means that everything is fine, while the blue means that this person is a resident of Konoha. No outward appearance or sign of acknowledgement of this fact should be made. Simply, if a Konoha citizen has a request they should do their best to fulfill it.

"Did you enjoy your stay in London, sir?" a simple question, just trying to make conversation; a spy would not even take notice.

Sasuke saw through it all and replied curtly, "It was fine until my girlfriend broke her leg."

Attention had been bought to the leg; it could have easily been left out. The officer tapped on the blue light, which doubled as a button. This told the management that there were spec ops personnel that needed assistance.

"You are good to go," the officer said and handed Sasuke his passport. "If your girlfriend needs anything there is a drug store on the far left as you exit."

The Uchiha thanked the man and then rejoined Sakura. She had been told the same, so it was safe to assume that the local authorities were going to meet them in the drug store and bring them a hospital. Sasuke could only hope it was discrete. They were in luck that the supervisor was a jounin from PK and had arranged for them to be sent directly to Konoha.

* * *

A/Ns:

Yes, the anagram is incredibly easy. Why doesn't Naruto go for more security? Well, the answer to that will be in the next chapter.

Another potential question: which country holds which village? I prefer to do show and tell within the story, I'll try to make sure to mentions which one's where when I refer to that Hidden Village.


	3. Arrival

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

Takes place in the more or less modern times (Europe). Ninjas do still exist.  
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are 25 years old.

"blah" – speech  
'_blah_' – thoughts

General note: Country's names like France, England, and etc. are interchangeable with Fire, Water, and etc.  
Villages to Countries: That are known so far.

Leaf - France  
Mist - England  
Snow - Russia (the European side only)

If you leave a review that criticizes some aspect of the story/chapter please elaborate on the issue. Saying something like "it was confusing" is too vague; at least give me an example. Thank you.

* * *

Chapter 3 – Arrival

Naruto got off the plane four hours later, and with the time zone change that made it eight in the morning. He made his way down the long corridor at a normal pace to the baggage claim. He preferred carry-on, but his duffel bag was a bit too big and he wasn't sure if he could sneak a bomb through security; he certainly didn't want to try.

Standing at the entrance to the carrousels and looking around as if not knowing which one to go to was the best way to scout the entire area without anyone noticing. Guards scattered about the room; their eyes sharp but posture relaxed meaning they have just come on duty, but there was no immediate threat. That was good, his departure had not raised any flags; the rest of the morning should be fine.

Ten minutes later – being the first flight in had its advantages – Naruto had retrieved his duffle bag and was standing in line for immigration. About the same procedure was at the carrousel except more reserved; same results. Immigration in the Russia is a pain, unless you know where not to go and Naruto knew exactly what to avoid.

'_Tourists will go through A, B, C, and D to get to E, but everyone else will just go straight to E,'_ so Kane had told him the first time they traveled internationally.

"Not bringing in anything toxic, illegal… blah, blah, blah…" the security guard asks you; to which you calmly reply no. No smiles or frowns, either a cold or annoyed look works the best. They all expect you to be worn out from your journey, why prove them wrong? As long as you act like people expect you to act, suspicions don't arise. Once you've gotten to the check-in area, find a pay phone (preferable near a door) and only then make any necessary calls.

The phone rings twice then silence, finally a tired voice is heard, "Hello?"

"Victor, are your blinds open yet?" asks Naruto in code. Victor is Kane's cover name; the rest is a question of mobility.

"Halfway, I don't like too much light getting through, you know that," comes the reply. Basically meaning, that depending on the situation he'll make an effort to get there or not; the last part is actually a question of identity.

"You should open them and let in some of the sunrise, Lissa," answers Naruto. Meaning that it's a code-yellow priority and lissa is Russian for fox; used here as the name of the caller.

Kane's voice suddenly becomes slightly sharper and more annoyed, "I thought you said your plane didn't get in until lunch."

Code had been basically dropped at this point, Naruto knew that. The more you talk in code the more code there is for potential listeners to analyze and the faster it will be deciphered. That and they had both verified the integrity of the person on the other end. Still, the remnant that remained implied that Kane would not make the effort to Naruto up from the airport.

"Yeah, well, they moved me to an earlier flight," Naruto replied. "I'll take a cab then; we're still on for the meeting, right?"

A heavy sigh was heard through the receiver, "Yes, I trust you remember how to get there."

Naruto answered positively, they said their goodbyes, and the blond was out the door hailing a cab within a minute. He quickly got a cab started negotiating price for where he wanted to go. The driver looked disappointed, but bargained nonetheless. The best 'catch' for cab drivers there was a tourist; a tourist that had never been in the Snow before.

Naruto, the cab driver realized in dissatisfaction, was not a tourist, which meant that the blond could not be charged more than a reasonable rate. Numbers were exchanged, a price agreed upon, and thirty minutes later Naruto was standing outside of a random apartment building that he had told the driver to drop him off at.

This was not where Kane lived, far from it actually. However, this place was close to the metro station the blond wanted to use to get to his friend's place. Why such a round about way to get where he was going? To check for and/or throw off potential pursuits, so that if that cab driver were to be interrogated and asked where Naruto could be found the location would be wrong, to put it simply because Naruto doesn't trust people that he doesn't know.

Best way to blend in with the crowd is to do the same as anyone else in the crowd would. Now, usually locals would have someone meeting them, but Naruto couldn't afford to be that friendly right now. Taking a cab anywhere far was also dangerous, counter-intelligence officers sometimes posed as cab drivers.

The metro for all its security cameras, police, and potential shinobi in crowd was actually the safest choice. Who would suspect an S-rank missing-nin to be in the middle of all that acting like a respectable citizen?

The blond made his way to the metro, stopping only to buy a newspaper from a kiosk. The outside of the metro station was packed; he had forgotten how early in the morning it was, and that everyone would be taking the metro to work. He sighed, the line to get metro tokens was long, but it gave him time to think and plan at least a little ways ahead. He doubted that Kane would refuse to let him stay, it's not like Naruto's picture was on bulletin boards, so it was relatively safe.

Besides that, there were two factors that were on Naruto's side. One: is that it was winter, which meant he didn't have to leave the house unless necessary. And two: even if he did have to leave the house, he could bundle himself up, so that people would only be able see his eyes. Also, Kane owed him.

That brought up another point, what would happen when Sasuke arrived; for he had no doubt that the Uchiha would find his way here. '_I have a week, maybe two, until he gets here,'_ thought Naruto. The blond could call in the favor from Kane to have Sasuke stay with them, but that wasn't so much the issue. The issue was what to do with the Uchiha? Naruto wasn't going back to Konoha. Sasuke likely knew that; the blond would be horribly disappointed if the 'so-called' genius didn't know. Hence, Sasuke will want answers, but was he prepared to give them; that was the real question.

The blond's train of thought paused as he was now first in line. Naruto got enough tokens to last him for a couple days of traveling and made his way down to the tracks. There was literally a mob of people and for a moment the blond thought it would be impossible to even get off the escalator. Getting on the train actually wouldn't be too hard, since this was the start of the line (looking north to south), so the train would be empty.

Naruto didn't manage to catch the first train; he was simply too far back in the mob to have a chance, but he wasn't worried. There were a lot of trains; he wouldn't have to wait too long for the next one. Normally, he liked to walk around the station and admire the architectural designs, but that was impossible in his current situation and thus the blond was reduced to waiting in one place and occasionally making sure no one cut in front of him.

The Uzumaki got on the next train. Holding the rail with one hand and his bag in the other, he was happy that he only had five stations to go. Paranoia was high, the chance that someone would try and steal something from his bag was even higher, but the blond knew that was impossible. Before entering the metro he had placed a seal on his bag; it was weak against a shinobi that wanted to gain access, but impossible for a civilian. Even if it was broken, Naruto would instantly know.

Someone still tried, the zippers didn't budge no matter how much the person pushed and pulled. Naruto was trying very hard not to burst out laughing; he simply readjusted the bag and practically smelled the fear on the would-be thief. His destination was announced and he forcibly squeezed and pushed his way to the door, and then through a crowd of people that wanted to get on the metro even though there were people getting out.

Once outside, he realized just how stuffy the metro was, but how very nice and warm too. Needless to say he wasn't well-dressed for this weather; he had a jacket, but it was too thin for subzero temperature, at least he was wearing pants and boots, and not shorts and sandals. He started briskly walking to Kane's apartment. The blond saw his breath come out as thick steam as he brought his hands up to his mouth to warm them up. He wasn't wearing gloves either, he didn't have a scarf, and his bandana should be a wool hat. For all his preparation to blend in Naruto had forgotten about his clothing; he felt the urge to slam his head into a wall.

'_Great, just great,'_ he thought sarcastically. '_Oh yes, a typical Snow Country citizen wears exactly what I'm wearing right now on a regular day.' _He could pretend to be poor, but even poor people in this country stole better jackets than the one he had on.

Luckily the walk was only ten minutes. Once inside, Naruto briskly rubbed his hands together to get them warmed up as he slowly made his was to the elevator. It was a very old wooden elevator; the shaft was surrounded by a metal cage so the elevator could actually be seen, there was a metal door on each floor that allowed access through the metal cage. Naruto pressed the button several times and then looked up the shaft and sighed, '_The elevator's broken_,' he thought in annoyance.

He glanced at the staircase that was right next to the elevator, '_Well, this is one way to get warmed up after freezing my stupid ass off in the subzero temperature outside._' While the apartment he was going to was on the ninth floor it wasn't too bad; after all the only luggage Naruto had was his duffle bag.

There were two hallways on opposite sides of the staircase and elevator shaft, each one behind a metal door the top part of which had a glass window, so that the residents could see who they were opening the door for. Said door had to be unlocked with a key different from the apartment key. There was also an intercom right next to the metal door; the blond prayed he remembered the room apartment number correctly.

He pressed the button, but didn't hear anything for a moment. Then a greeting sound from the speaker and a couple questions were asked. It was very similar to the conversation they had had at the airport. A door at the end of the corridor opened and a gray-haired man stepped out. He slowly made his way towards Naruto, all the while observing the blond just to make sure that this was indeed who he thought it was.

The middle-aged man opened the door and Naruto could take in his appearance; the metal door's window was thick and somewhat blurry. Kane had not changed much since Naruto had last seen him. He stood straight, proud and confident as he looked the blond over. Kane had an overall tank-build, he was slightly taller than Naruto, his shoulders were wider, and he had a rough-looking face that practically said 'you do anything wrong and I'm throwing you out a window.'

Kane motioned Naruto to follow him and the blond obeyed. The older man was wearing his in-house clothes: a gray wool sweatshirt over, a t-shirt of some sort, black fleece pants, and white slippers.

"So you're here," Kane asked as he closed the door behind Naruto.

"Yes," replied Naruto somewhat sadly and apprehensively.

Kane nodded, "I understand, can't say I didn't predict this. I just thought you'd give more of a warning."

"Sometimes, things don't go as planned," said Naruto. "And you end up catching the last plane out and waking your friends up at eight in the morning to tell them you've arrived at the airport."

"Isn't that usually the case?" asked the middle-aged man sardonically. Naruto made an acknowledging sound before sitting down on a bench to take his boots off. The owner of the apartment handed the young man a pair of slippers to wear.

The apartment itself wasn't anything special, just two bedrooms, an average sized kitchen, a small bathroom separate, and a sink and shower room. The one cool thing was that since this was the top-most floor the ceiling was unusually high, at least three meters. The man pointed to the bedroom directly on the right, "You know the drill, I sleep here and you will be taking the other room."

The blond made his way to the other room and began unpacking his stuff.

"I'm going to the market," Kane said from the doorway. "I don't have enough for the both of us." Naruto nodded in acknowledgement.

Since the blond traveled light, unpacking took only a couple minutes. He soon made his way through the hallway that connected all the rooms to his friend's room.

Naruto looked around the room and was pleased to see that nothing had changed. It was a rectangular room with the door on the right edge of the short side. There was a large dark-wood dining table right next to the balcony door on the short side of the rectangular room. An entire bookshelf, completely filled with books, covered one of the long sides of the room. Opposite the bookshelf was a three-seat couch that folder out into a double bed. The blond also noticed a brand new TV sitting on top of an old stool-like thing a couple of feet away from the door, set up in such a way that it would be perfect to watch from the bed.

Naruto walked over to the balcony door, opened it, and quickly slipped outside. It was a covered balcony, so it wasn't as cold as being outside, but it wasn't exactly warm either. However, Naruto wanted a view of his surroundings and to simply gaze at the cityscape. He was denied the latter as there were thick clouds setting it and obscuring everything from view; not to mention signifying that it was going to snow.

The blond shivered as he once again realized that he wasn't dressed properly for this sort of thing and went back inside to his room. His room was probably equal in size to Kane's room, if only a little bit smaller. It also was a rectangular room with the door on the right edge of the short side. There was a full-sized bed along the left side of the room, next to it was a small nightstand on top of which was a lamp, and on the wall above it hung a decorative rug. The right side of the room had – in this order starting from the door – a wooden bookshelf, each shelf having sliding glass doors; a table set up as a work-desk with a slab of glass on top of its surface, beneath the glass were pictures, data of some sort, and notes; and a TV in the corner of the room that looked to be about ten years old, but with all the latest audio and video equipment hooked up to it.

Naruto sat down on the bed, propped the pillows up behind his back, leaned his head on the wall behind him, and started reading the newspaper he had bought, waiting for Kane to get back.

Lunch had been a quiet affair. Kane wasn't much of a talker and would usually just listen to Naruto talk, but Naruto was tired and simply wanted to get food into his system before he took a nap. They ate at a small table in the kitchen that would probably fit four people at best considering how one side of it was pressed into a wall; a modest white and red checkered table cloth covered it. The silverware was really silver, but that was sort of the standard in the Snow, and the dishes were plain white ceramics with flowers painted on the side.

Naruto thanked Kane for the meal and collapsed on his bed. He was asleep soon after. The gray-haired man watched him from the doorway. He was apprehensive, he wouldn't deny it, to let Naruto stay here. He may owe him, but that was a gray area. The first time the blond left Snow – after his first and longest time here – Kane had been, and still was, completely against Naruto's insane plan.

The second time he left, Kane had wanted to wring his neck; but then again the gray-haired man knew something that the blond didn't. He still knew that something and had not told Naruto, in fact he could not for the life of him imagine how to bring that up. However, no matter the excuse and no matter that he had been asked to tell Naruto, the guilt of knowing this and not telling the blond was beginning to eat at him.

Last time he thought about this he had stayed up all night bickering with himself whether or not to tell the blond, but not having reached a concrete 'yes or no' decision he put off telling the blond. The problem was every time he saw Naruto, the Uzumaki was in some sort of trouble and the middle-aged man didn't want to add to the blond's burden.

Kane sighed and left a note telling Naruto that he went to work and would be back at night; it was the dead of winter, the blond wasn't going anywhere for a while, Kane would have plenty of time to think about this.

/'/'/

Sasuke sat in his study at the Uchiha manor, Naruto's anagram in front of him and a pencil in his hand. They had gotten to the village quickly enough and Sakura had been rushed off by the medics almost instantly. He, on the other hand, had had to report to the Hokage to give a detailed – since her apprentice had been injured so much – account of exactly what happened.

'_It's not like this was a mission,'_ contemplated Sasuke as he made his way to the Hokage's office. '_Then again if it wasn't a mission why the hell is Sakura injured?'_ The idea of lying had occurred to the raven-haired man. He could say that Itachi and Kisame had attacked them with the intent of getting information about Naruto. The problem with this kind of lying was that Sakura was not informed of this story, not only that but it would never even cross her mind to lie to Tsunade. If you are caught lying to them that means you are hiding something; and since he really _was_ hiding something it would be good if they didn't have probable cause to dig deeper into his report.

The account he gave was accurate, minus a couple scenes namely the one where Naruto gave him the anagram paper. Just as he was about to leave, the Godaime was told that Sakura had actually been poisoned. It was a weak poison, but still she needed her rest, with the chakra exhaustion and all, no visitors until at least tomorrow. The raven-haired man was still wondering how he had missed that Sakura was suffering from chakra exhaustion. I mean it was simply beneath him to miss such details; absolutely unbecoming of an Uchiha.

He made a mental note that his ego needed to be killed, or at least made mute.

He needed a distraction, he also needed to figure out this anagram; hence why he's sitting here right now. '_Where to start?'_ he thought. '_Start at the beginning.'_

First word: _HEMUSOY_

'_Soy… soy sauce,'_ he thought absentmindedly. '_That goes good on rice.'_

The Uchiha blinked several times; his mind had just gone to an entirely different place. Judging from the place it went he was incredibly hungry, as his stomach backed up in the next second. Food made sense, a lot more sense than going to Shikamaru because he couldn't solve a seven-word anagram.

Sasuke went out to eat and brought the piece of paper with him. By the end of the meal Naruto's note had been deciphered, and on the way home Sasuke wondered why the blond had made it so easy. Then he realized – it was very simple actually – to get the note, a person would have to get to Naruto, and if you got to Naruto, the note didn't matter.

As soon as Sasuke got home he rummaged through the mailing center drawers looking for a certain object. He finally found it tucked away at the back-most corner of the lowest drawer, it was the key to Naruto's apartment. He would need it, since the anagram read as follows: MY HOUSE, COUCH LEG, MUNICH.

The only 'house' Naruto had, was his apartment in Konoha. Of course, this was as far as Sasuke knew, but considering that Naruto had given him this piece of paper it was safe to assume that it was something that Sasuke would know about; at least that's what he hoped.

It was midday now. It would take at least two more hours for the news of his and Sakura's return to circulate through the shinobi populace. After that their friends would go to the hospital first, waste at least thirty minutes of their life trying to get in to see her, and then finally realize that he wasn't there and go try and find him. Naruto's place would not be where they go first; his house and the training grounds being the first ones. Meaning, he had a good three to four hours before he was disturbed.

'_Plenty of time to dig for clues at Naruto's house,'_ thought Sasuke.

All the couch legs looked the same. This was the final conclusion that the Uchiha came up with after studying the legs with and without having his Sharingan activated. Maybe the Sharingan had been a bit too extreme, but you never know, not with the most surprising ninja. Figuring it was more complicated than one of the legs being white while the others were black; he tapped each one of them and found that one was hollow. Carefully, lifting the couch up and removing that leg had produced a small silver key in the hollowed out section of the leg.

'_A key to what?'_ wondered Sasuke. The key was too small to be a house key. The number on it made it look more like a key used for lockers. That's when it hit him, '_This must be a key to a locker in Munich; a train station locker most likely.'_ He would have to go to Munich.

His first thought was that he had to take Sakura with him, but soon realized that Naruto's trail might go cold if he were to wait. The blond had been saying he would be dropping off the face of the Earth, and last time he did that even Jiraiya couldn't find him. He needed to go, but he couldn't; obligations and responsibilities weighed him down. The Uchiha scoffed lightly as he remembered Naruto saying that that was one of the hardest things to get used to after being a missing-nin for such a long time.

After hours of thinking about it, Sasuke had realized that he would have to go alone. He would tell Sakura that he would come back as soon as he could; that he wasn't planning on staying with Naruto for a prolonged period of time. But he would have to go alone. He didn't like the idea too much, but at the same time she would be safe this way; and he could send her a message to tell her where he was. At least that was the theory, the ideal plan; Sasuke could easily guess her response.

'_Maybe I should write her a letter instead?'_ thought Sasuke. She would understand his reasons, '_But she will still be angry. But, otherwise, she will want to come along… this is a pain.'_ The Uchiha found himself torn once again; he would need to think longer.

At this point he was very grateful for the privileges given to Special Jounin; getting a mission to or around Munich was probably impossible. On that note, getting into a Hidden-Stone-controlled territory was near impossible. Naruto thought this out pretty well, even if someone from Konoha had found the anagrams or the key and wanted to find him that person would have to go to the Stone and risk death.

Still, he had to go to Munich, which meant that he had to get into the Stone. Flying in was out of the question; the Stone was insane about security. Trains weren't a possibility either: passports were checked while boarding, randomly in transit, and when leaving the train station. Sasuke realized he would have to sneak into Germany or Austria and more-or-less hitchhike his way to Munich.

However, before any of that there was the problem of leaving Konoha. Sure he had Special Jounin privileges, but the fact that he had just returned and with an injured comrade no less would certainly make his leaving again, for lack of a better word, bothersome. Sasuke sighed and plopped back in his chair, privileges are privileges but the Hokage has the final say. That said and everything considered, the Godaime wouldn't let him go.

'_I could promise her Naruto,'_ contemplated the raven-haired man. The question was would he be able to keep that promise; he was doubtful. "The truth goes a long way," he had heard that before, but never paid it much attention, after all shinobi lie and deceive. _'I could tell her the truth about where I'm going and how I'm going to meet up with Naruto and…'_ he trailed off; and what? What was he going to do once he found the blond?

Bring him back? No, Naruto wouldn't come. There was something that just… no, Sasuke just knew – he knew not how he knew, but he knew – that Naruto would never come back to the Leaf.

So, if it wasn't to bring him back, then what was going to be Sasuke's goal? He definitely wanted answers. Answers to why Naruto became missing-in-action, why did he disappear, what happened with the Akatsuki, what happened with the Kyuubi, and – maybe most importantly of all – what does the blond plan to do now?

He wasn't the only the only one that wanted answer. The Godaime would want these answers too. Would she let him go and retrieve them? Sasuke was leaning towards yes. Would she trust him to go and retrieve them? Now for this one Sasuke was leaning towards no. So who would she trust to go retrieve these answers? Sakura is a good bet for holding the Godaime's trust.

What does it all boil down to? Final conclusion:

Sasuke wouldn't be allowed to go alone in search of Naruto. He would have to wait until Sakura was able to make the journey and they would both go in search of Naruto and the answers that he possesses.

It was not a very comforting conclusion; he had just contented himself with the fact that Sakura would be safer in the village and now he would be forced to bring her along. Also, Sakura would need time to heal; time that they might not have. How long would Naruto wait for them before completely disappearing? _Is _Naruto waiting for them or has he already disappeared?

Now the latter was a bone-chilling question, Naruto hadn't been very forthcoming when he gave Sasuke the anagrams. Could the Uzumaki just be wasting their time by having them go to Munich, all the while giving himself enough time to disappear without a trace? Maybe this message is so outdated that Naruto gave it away because it is worthless?

No, Sasuke shook his head, he was over-analyzing. The blond wouldn't come up with a plan as convoluted as that. No, the message was real, this key is real, and the contents of that locker are real; what if the locker is empty? _'Damn it! Stop over-analyzing!'_ the Uchiha scolded himself. The Naruto he knows doesn't give dead-end clues and wouldn't nest keys in lockers.

This is real. He would assume it to be so, convince himself that it is so, and then present it to the Godaime as if he were holding the key to the meaning of life.

* * *

A/N:

Sort of a random thought, but it holds weight in a lot of fics that I read:  
I haven't put much dialogue into this fic so far, it has mostly been thoughts and narration. This is because I firmly believe that people don't disclose their life stories and/or their biggest problems in some random coffee-shop or bar where a bunch of strangers can hear. Applied to the shinobi world, this would mean that shinobi don't go into lengthy conversations about their life stories, problems, and/or weaknesses in the middle of a mission and/or on enemy territory. This kind of talk happens in private safe environments where all of the people present feel comfortable.


End file.
